I bought a 1982 Hobie 16 last fall and have spent the winter and spring learning about it and getting it ready to sail. I plan on sailing at Hoover Reservoir, Buck Creek and a small residential lake called Choctaw Lake (of course, due to all the rain we have had I could probably sail to work and anywhere else). Any Columbus residents out there who are familiar with other good sailing spots within an hour or so of Columbus?

There's some Hobies and other cats at Alum Creek. Check them out at www.alumcreeksailing.com. They've been including a cat start at their Old Fox Regatta in October for the past couple of years. It's a great club and they do have a cat beach.

Thanks, I will check out Alum Creek. The main reason I hadn't originally considered Alum is that I would mostly be sailing on the weekends and had been told that it is generally packed with powerboaters on the weekends.

The Hoover Sailing Club (http://www.hooversailingclub.com/) has nice facilities but I don’t think they have a Cat Beach. They have several active monohull fleets, but I don't know any Cat guys that are there.

Additionally there is another spot further up the lake on the western shore that is a Cat Only club (Columbus Sailing Club - http://www.columbussailingclub.org/). They have a Cat Beach and shelter house.

Lastly, there is a Public Launch (Red Bank ) facility half-way between them that does have a storage lot and a close ramp so you could store it and not have to lower the mast. I have heard there are a couple of Cat sailors that store and sail from that location, but I don’t know that from firsthand experience.